It is well known in motor vehicles to mount an air bag beneath the instrument panel for deployments through an opening in the instrument panel. The opening in the instrument panel is conventionally closed by a deployment door which is hingedly mounted on the vehicle body instrument panel by a hinge defining a transverselly extending hinge axis. It is also known in the prior art that the hinge may be defined by a flexible or elastic strap, or a convoluted metal strap which hinges the door in a manner by which the door shifts bodily upward and out of the opening to facilitate the deployment of the air bag through the opening.
It would be desirably to provide a new and improved door assembly which would be substantially rigid to conceal and protect the undeployed air bag, and yet have improved kinematics which upon deployment would maximize the opening rate of the door and would yield and absorb energy to minimize any interaction with the vehicle windshield upon over travel of the deployment door.